The Dark Mark
by JuleznStuffs
Summary: “The only birthmark you have is a splotch on your right shoulder,” I snapped. “Let me see your arm Bellatrix!" OneShot


"I _need _to know!"

"It's none of your business, Andy, so drop it!"

"No I want to know where you've been disappearing to all summer, hell for the past two years!"

"I told you, it's _nothing!"_

"Bella-"

It was mid morning that day in August, and not even the Blacks, who had a reputation for being cold as ice, could deny that it was one of the hottest summers England had ever seen. Our manor had been adjusted to fit the heat. The sheets were made of silk, as were our new robes. The windows were opened to let in any breezes and Cooling Charms had been cast around the whole house.

For the most part it'd been a relaxing summer. Me, Bella, and Cissy had lounged by the pond on the grounds with Sirius, Regulus, and any other children who happened to come with their parents to our place. There had been the usual parties, and the giant one for Bella who had turned sixteen, but there was also a repressed tension. Sirius had been growing more and more distant and then there was what disturbed me the most, Bella's disappearances.

She'd leave at the most random times. Sneak out of the a ball with Rodolphus, crawl out the window at one in the morning, go into the house to find her sunglasses and come back four hours later claiming that she 'couldn't find the bloody things anywhere'. But I would have just passed Bella antics off for teenage defiance, going out to get drunk with Lestrange and stuff, if she hadn't been doing it for almost two years.

It had started (Or I had first noticed it) near the end of the summer before Bella's fourth year. She'd only leave occasionally, I counted about four times that whole school year, though there could have been more. But then in Bella's fifth year, my fourth, her absences became more frequent. Bella's excuses were good at first, 'Oh we just went to Hogsmeade got a Butterbeer, you know,', 'I just wanted to explore the forest Andy, is that _so_ bad?', and 'We went for a midnight dip in the lake, stop _worrying_!'

But now her excuses were feebler. "Why do you want to know?', 'We didn't do anything bad, Andy,', and 'It isn't anything mother and father wouldn't approve of!"

It all lead up to me asking her strait out where she was going, where she was _really_ going.

"It's nothing _you _should be concerned with Andy!" Bella said storming through the manor looking for her comb.

"Well if it's not a big deal then tell me!" I yelled following her into Narcissa's room.

"What's going-" Our little sister started to ask with her concerned blue eyes darting between me and Bella before she was cut off.

"Cissy, have you seen my silver comb?" Bella asked throwing her dark hair over her shoulder. "I can't find it _anywhere_!"

"Why are you searching for it? Why not ask a house-elf?"

"I don't want our mother to find out I lost it she'd-"

"Bella!" I screamed.

She turned slowly to look at me. _"What?"_

"I want to know where you've gone all summer!" I yelled, distressed. "I want to know what you've been doing and if it's '_nothing_' then it's obviously _not_ important and you can _tell me_!"

Bella's eyes narrowed. "I told you, it's none of your business and it doesn't concern you!"

"If it concerns you, it concerns me too!" I said angrily.

Bella's eyes looked thoughtful. "I take that back. It does concern you. As long as your part of our world, the pureblood world, it concerns you, but you don't need to know now,"

"Oh, I don't need to know now? From what I've seen you've known about it since you were fourteen!"

"You've never expressed an interest in it!"

"And you have?"

"I've expressed an interest in it since first year! And why are you so concerned now? Cissy doesn't need to know every single detail about my life!"

I repressed the urge to yell that we used to know every single detail about the others lives even if we didn't want to. Instead I turned to Narcissa, who looked petrified. "Cissy, don't tell me you don't want to know where Bella's been going off?"

Cissy looked hesitant. "She-she does have a point Bella. You've been disappearing an awful lot lately, and," Narcissa sat up a little straighter and her words seemed to have a little defiance to them. "And I think we deserve to know what you've been doing,"

Bella screamed something she'd never have been able to get away with if our parents had been at home instead of in Spain. "I told you it's nothing! Nothing at-"

"If it has something to do with the pureblood world and we'll need to know at one point, it doesn't sound like nothing, it sounds like something," Narcissa pointed out reasonably.

"Yeah you've never had a problem with telling us things before mother thought we were ready to know, why the sudden reluctance, Bella?" I taunted.

But inside I was aching. We _never_ fought. In my whole life up to that moment I could count the number of times me and Bella fought on one hand. We were close, extremely close. Best friends…

"I can't believe you guys!" Bella screamed, her eyes franticly darting between me and Narcissa. "You should trust me! I'm your sister! No, I'm not telling you guys _anything_ until you trust me!" With that my sister whirled around on her heel and stated towards the door.

I felt a rush of guilt. "Bella-" I grabbed her left sleeve, meaning to hold her back, but instead I ripped it.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-_what is that?" _I had noticed a black mark on her forearm.

"Nothing! It's nothing at-" Bellatrix tried to cover the place I had seen the mark.

"Let me see your arm," I said coldly.

"No-Andy, it's nothing, honestly! Just a birthmark-"

"The only birthmark you have is a splotch on your right shoulder," I snapped. "Let me see your arm Bellatrix!"

"No, _Andromeda_," Bellatrix said coolly.

But Narcissa and I already had an idea what was on our sisters left forearm. Bellatrix knew we did, knew that while mother and father supported His cause they would kill her for joining before she was out of school. Suddenly Bella's midnight adventures became clear. I knew she was interested in the Dark Arts, but still…

I grabbed my sister's arm and jerked it into sight. I gasped and Narcissa screamed.

Embedded into my sisters pale skin was the Dark Mark.

A million thoughts raced through my head. I had known of course about Bellatrix's interest in the Dark Arts. True, I hadn't really recognized it until fourth year, and even after that I'd seen it as a phase, a hobby, something she'd grow out of. Bella was my blind spot. I had suspected that she was contemplating the idea of joining the Dark Lords ranks, but I had always thought that Bella would tell me before doing something so drastic. I was the calm to Bella's wild. I knew she could never be totally confined, but I could stop her to a certain extent. Now there was no going back.

_My sister was a Death Eater_

_Bellatrix was a Death Eater_

_Bella was a Death Eater _

Damn. No matter how I twisted the words in my head they still sounded horrible. I could almost hear Him laughing at me.He had won the war for Bella heart and mind. Now she was his. Completely and totally his. (A/N: This does is not a Bella/Voldemort pairing)

"You guys can't tell anyone! Not even Sirius or Reggie okay?" Bella, for the first time in her life, begged. "I know I wasn't supposed to, but-but-"

"Bella, with did you do this?" I asked shakily.

"Last night, just last night, I _swear_-"

"So-your-you're a-" Narcissa stumbled on her words. Her eyes, as big as Galleons, were staring at the Dark Lord's symbol.

"I'm a Death Eater," Bella confirmed quickly. "All this mark does is burn-"

"_Burn?"_

"Yes, burn, when he calls us and then we're supposed to Apparate-"

"But you can't Apparate," I said slowly.

"Just because I don't have my license doesn't mean I can't. Anyway, we're supposed to Apparate to Him from anywhere where we are,"

"I can't believe you did this," Cissy whispered.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Bella proclaimed, pride rich in her voice. "I'm aiding in the purification of the Wizarding race. It is a proud and noble deed,"

Slowly I started to walk out of the room.

"Andy!" Bella called hesitantly. "You're not-not _mad _at me, right? You don't…_hate me_?"

"No, I don't hate you…I just need to think about some things…" And with that I walked out of the room.

A week after no one would ever have guessed we fought, but the gap between me and Bella had just gotten a little larger. That gap would ultimately destroy us.

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